Laughing Gets Me Through

For some reason, when the funny gene was meted out, I didn't get the one that lets me think of funny things to say at the time they are needed. Some people can think of funny things to say right at the time. Others, like me, sometimes have something I once heard called "staircase wit." In other words, the very thing one could have said pops into the head just as one is going away down the stairs.

Today, someone wrote on one of my lists that she is getting paid at work to check the packages that come from Ikea with furniture in them. Today one came with the wrong screws. Someone who is always writing something funny wrote back right away, "They must have had a screw loose." It did stike me as funny at the time.

As with other things in which I lack talent, I have become a great appreciator or fan. If anyone has suggestions for a joke-a-day site for normal people, I'd love to have it. You see, when life gets difficult for me, I find that if I can find something to laugh about, I can carry on. Sometimes tears do come. Sometimes I don't sleep, but I can manage to put one foot in front of the other if I have had at least one laugh.

One person writes that having a laughter kit is a good idea, complete with a clown nose and other things that sometimes make people laugh. The thing is, I am not going to be the one at the mike. I am not even going to be the one next to you at dinner that thinks of something funny that is appropriate for the moment. I can't see how keeping a kit with a clown nose in it is going to help me find someone to tell me a funny story or joke.

It is all well and good to command a person to lighten up. That is hard to do if one doesn't know how to tell a joke or give a witty response. The best I can do is make sure that the corners of my mouth turn up into a smile when we see each other and make a special effort not to have frown lines between my eyebrows. I am drawn to people who have crinkly lines around their eyes from smiles and laughter. I know you are, too.